Somewhat to my surprise, I found Nigel
Farage, leader of UKIP, sitting in the same small, cheerless office, on the
fifth floor of Moss House, a nondescript block behind Claridge’s, where in
December 2011 I had interviewed Lynton Crosby, who now works for David Cameron
but was at the time running Boris Johnson’s campaign for re-election as Mayor
of London.

Mr Farage explained the coincidence: the
donor, Andrew Reid, who provides him with this suite of offices, had previously
given the same accommodation to Mr Johnson’s campaign.

The world of conservative politics is
full of such connections. After five minutes of affable banter about the Test
match and other topics – for although Mr Farage’s office is cheerless, he
himself is remarkably cheery – the interview began in earnest.